1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector which establishes connection by inserting a female connector housing into a receptacle of a male connector housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The following connector is known as being of the above type. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a prior art male connector 1 includes a male connector housing 2 having a receptacle 2a and a multitude of male terminals 3 retained in the male connector housing 2. The terminals 3 project into the interior of the receptacle 2a. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a prior female connector 4 includes a female connector housing 5 which is insertable into the receptacle 2a and a multiple of female terminals which are to be engaged and connected with the corresponding male terminals 3. A pair of ribs 6 project at opposite lateral sides of the female connector housing 5 so as to avoid erroneous insertion, and guide grooves 7 engageable with the corresponding ribs 6 are formed in the receptacle 2a. This arrangement prevents the female connector housing 5 from being inserted into the receptacle 2a in a wrong direction or obliquely as shown in FIG. 8.
However, even with the ribs 6 formed as described above, if the female connector housing 5 is forcibly inserted, the receptacle 2a undergoes elastic deformation, thereby allowing entry of the female connector housing 5. Then, a corner portion of the female connector housing 5 comes into contact with some of the female terminals 3 in the receptacle 2a, causing deformation of these terminals 3. As a result, such forcible insertion damages the connector.
In view of the above problem, it is an object of the invention to prevent a damage of a connector resulting from wrong insertion of a female connector housing.